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The purpose of this study is to provide new insights into the relationship between fiscal policy and total factor productivity (TFP) while accounting for several economic and econometric issues of the phenomenon like non-stationarity, fiscal feedback effects, persistence in productivity, country heterogeneity and unobserved global shocks and local spillovers affecting heterogeneously the countries in the sample.

The paper is empirical. It builds an Error Correction Model (ECM) specification within a dynamic heterogeneous framework with common correlated effects and models both reverse causality and feedback effects.

The results of this study highlight some new findings relative to the existing related literature. The outcomes suggest some relevant evidence at both the academic and policy levels: (1) the causal effects going from fiscal deficit/surplus to TFP are heterogeneous across countries; (2) the effects depend on the time horizon considered; (3) the long-run dynamics of TFP are positively impacted by improvements in fiscal budget, but only if the austerity measures do not exert slowdowns in aggregate growth.

The main originality of this study is methodological, with possible extensions to related phenomena. Relative to the existing literature, the gains of this study rely on the way econometric techniques, recently proposed in the literature, are adapted to the economic relationship of interest. The endogeneity due to the existence of reverse causality is modelled without implying relevant performance losses of the models. Moreover, this is the first article that questions whether the effects of fiscal budget on productivity depend on the impact of the former on aggregate output growth, thus emphasising the importance of the quality of fiscal adjustments.

This study aims to analyze the imbalances in the public finance structure of Pakistan’s economy and highlight the need for comprehensive reforms. Specifically, it aims to contribute to the empirical literature by analyzing the relationship between fiscal vulnerability, financial stress and macroeconomic policies in Pakistan’s economy between 1971 and 2020.

The study develops an index of fiscal vulnerability, an index of financial stress and an index of macroeconomic policies. The fiscal vulnerability index is based on the patterns of fiscal indicators resulting from past trends of the selected variables in Pakistan’s economy. The financial stress in Pakistan is caused from the financial disorders that are acknowledged in the composite index, which is based on variables with the potential to indicate periods of stress stemming from the foreign exchange market, the securities market and the monetary policy components. The macroeconomic policies index is developed to analyze the mechanism through which fiscal vulnerability and financial stress have influenced macroeconomic policies in Pakistan. The causal association between fiscal vulnerability, financial stress and macroeconomic policies is analyzed using the auto-regressive distributive lags approach.

There exists a long-run relationship between the three indices, and a bi-directional causality between fiscal vulnerability and macroeconomic policies.

This study contributes to the development of a fiscal monitoring mechanism, which has the basic purpose of analyzing the refinancing risk of public liabilities. Moreover, it focuses on fiscal vulnerability from a macroeconomic perspective. The study tries to develop a framework to assess fiscal vulnerability in light of “The Risk Octagon” theory, which focuses on three risk components: fiscal variables, macroeconomic-disruption-associated shocks and non-fiscal country-specific variables. The initial contribution of this work to the literature is to develop a framework (a fiscal vulnerability index, financial stress index and macroeconomic policies index) for effective and result-oriented macro-fiscal surveillance. Moreover, empirical literature emphasized and advised developing countries to develop their own capacity mechanisms to assess their fiscal vulnerability in light of the IMF guidelines regarding vulnerability assessments. This study thus attempts to fulfill the said gap identified in literature.

More and more statistics have repeatedly shown that as the economic development has entered the New Normal, the Chinese fiscal system has experienced tremendous changes. Although chance cannot be ruled out, much of those changes indicate trends, and they can even be said to be the result of the law of economic development. These trends and changes have repeatedly demonstrated that, as a reflection and an inevitable result of the economic developing speed shift, structural adjustment and energy conversion, the Chinese fiscal system, far from the conventional operating state, has progressed on a new path. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

This paper systematically analyzes several new trends and changes in the Chinese fiscal system under the New Normal. First, revenue growth has experienced a sharp downward trend, while the tax elasticity coefficient has declined rapidly. Second, fiscal expenditure has risen against the tendency, while the rigidity of expenditure has kept on increasing.

Considering the present fiscal and taxation system reform with the analysis above, it can be seen that if the reform’s progress for the past two years is slower than expected – thus, preventing the effects of all aspects from a timely achievement – then, in the recent period, the agreement on the fiscal and taxation system reform will be reached and challenges entirely different from the past, including sharp slowdown in revenue growth rate, fiscal expenditure rising against trend and increases in fiscal deficit and government debts will be faced. The factors encouraging the reform are gathering gradually. The growth of the strength to push the reform forward is speeding up. And the pace of the reform in relevant areas is quickening.

In the face of those trends and changes, on the one hand, the authors should deeply understand and accurately grasp them through a comprehensive summary and systematic analysis. On the other hand, a series of conventional ideas, thoughts and strategies should be adjusted comprehensively and duly. Taking a train of new ideas, thoughts and strategies, the authors ought to actively adapt to and initiate a new Chinese fiscal structure under the New Normal of China’s economy.

Inspite of the attention resilience receives in relation to public policy and public management, very few studies have analysed the internal mechanics of public sector organisations to see what is producing their resilience. Considering management control systems (MCSs) as the drivers of organisational change, this paper aims to explore their role as determinants of resilience in the public sector. The paper attempts to open the black box of organisational functioning focusing on one complex component.

This paper adopted a qualitative approach for this longitudinal case study. This paper used a mix of primary and secondary sources in terms of direct observation, semi-structured interviews and internal document analysis. This paper used a framework drawing on Barbera et al. (2017) and management control’s constraining and facilitating concepts to explore how anticipatory and coping capacities of resilience are supported and reinforced by MCSs.

Findings suggest that MCSs support adaptive behaviour and assist decision-making by providing knowledge and ready-to-use answers to cope with external shocks. However, this is found in case of the adoption of facilitating MCSs, which empower managers and employees and are based on stewardship roles. In such a context, MCSs played an essential role in shaping anticipatory and coping capacities. At the same time, financial shocks fostered the investment in MCSs, cyclically strengthening or developing new anticipatory and coping capacities.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first attempting to identify how facilitating MCSs, as a driver of organisational change, can make an organisation more resilient. It shows how resilience capacities are generated and strengthened via MCSs.

This paper aims to estimate a New Keynesian small open economy dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model for Egypt using Bayesian techniques and data for the period FY2004/2005:Q1-FY2015/2016:Q4 to assess monetary and fiscal policy interactions and their impact on economic stabilization. Outcomes of monetary and fiscal authority commitment to policy instruments, interest rate, government spending and taxes, are evaluated using Taylor-type and optimal simple rules.

The study extends the stylized micro-founded small open economy New Keynesian DSGE model, proposed by Lubik and Schorfheide (2007), by explicitly introducing fiscal policy behavior into the model (Fragetta and Kirsanova, 2010 and Çebi, 2011). The model is calibrated using quarterly data for Egypt on key macroeconomic variables during FY2004/2005:Q1-FY2015/2016:Q4; and Bayesian methods are used in estimation.

The results show that monetary and fiscal policy instruments in Egypt contribute to economic stability through their effects on inflation, output and debt stock. The monetary policy Taylor rule estimates reveal that the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) attaches significant importance to anti-inflationary policy and (to a lesser extent) to output targeting but responds weakly to nominal exchange rate variations. CBE decisions are significantly influenced by interest rate smoothing. Egyptian fiscal policy has an important role in output and government debt stabilization. Additionally, the fiscal authority chooses pro-cyclical government spending and counter-cyclical tax policies for output stabilization. Again, past values of the fiscal instruments are influential in the evolution of the future fiscal policy-making process.

A few studies have examined the interaction between monetary and fiscal policy in Egypt within a unified framework. The presented paper integrates the monetary and fiscal policy analysis within a unified dynamic general equilibrium open economy rational expectations framework. Without such a framework, it would not be easy to jointly analyze monetary and fiscal transmission mechanisms for output, inflation and debt. Also, it would be neither possible to contrast the outcome of monetary and fiscal authorities commitment to a simple Taylor instrument rule vis-à-vis optimal policy outcomes nor to assess the behavior of monetary and fiscal agents in macroeconomic stability in context of an active/passive policy decisions framework.

The objective of this study is to analyze the role that budgetary analytical capacity (BAC) plays for fiscal discipline in a sample of Eurozone countries in the postcrisis period.

Building on the policy capacity literature, an index for the BAC is constructed by including OECD budgetary data from three dimensions: reliability of projections, openness to legislative scrutiny and transparency. The proposed BAC index is validated by checking that larger values of the index are associated with the higher fiscal discipline scores across countries.

Controlling for the economic cycle, BAC index is positively associated with fiscal discipline. The association is stronger for the index as a whole than for the three separate dimensions.

The study is done on the limited sample of countries, and it is not feasible to validate results over time.

Budgetary policymakers can improve fiscal discipline by enhancing the three pillars that support the BAC.

Stronger BAC can help to improve the quality of public decision-making and overcome political opportunism.

This is the first study that introduces the concept of BAC, makes it operational and suggests its relevance for supporting fiscal discipline.

The purpose is to detect the nonlinearity wholesale rice price formation process in Italy in the 1995–2017 period.

A nonlinear smooth transition autoregressive (STAR)-type dynamics model is used.

Wholesale rice prices are significantly affected by variations in the international price of rice as well as variations in Arborio price.

The limitations include policy recommendations for the production and commercialization of rice in Italy.

Understanding rice pricing dynamics and nonlinearity behavior is pivotal for the survival of the entire European and Italian rice supply chain.

In the extant literature, no evidence exists on non-linearity of rice prices in Italy.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how different strategic goals of (micro-, small- and medium-sized firms=SMEs) relate to the business model innovation (BMI) paths that SMEs take when improving their business.

The authors conducted 11 in-depth case studies involving SMEs innovating their business models (BMs).

The authors found evidence that strategic goals of SMEs (start new business, growth and profitability) lead them to alternative innovation path in terms of BM components affected. Growth seekers start from the right-hand side of a BM Canvas, while profitability seekers start from the back end, the left side of a Canvas; and new businesses adopt a cyclical approach considering BM components in turn, while at the same time redesigning and testing the BM. The findings of this study also indicate that all three paths gradually lead to improvement in several BM components.

Findings indicate that a strategic management view in which strategic goals define BMI also applies to SMEs. The distinctive BMI paths that the authors identified provide evidence to suggest that, although the SMEs may not have an explicitly formulated strategy, their strategic goals determine the type of improvements they make to their BM. All three SME groups started their improvements from different BM components and changed several elements in their BMs in a specific order, forming distinctive BMI paths. Finally, to understand the BMI in SMEs better, more research is needed into BMI processes and into the way BMI is managed in SMEs.

The findings of this study help SMEs to anticipate the next steps in their path towards an improved BM. By mirroring their approach to the BMI paths, they can better manage their BM makeover process and focus on their innovation activities. For providers of BMI tools and methods, the study indicates which SME innovation tasks could be supported by tools and how the tools should be aligned with the BMI paths.

BMI is attracting growing attention in both research and practice. However, knowledge concerning BMI in SMEs is limited. The authors contributed to BMI research by focussing on the BMI paths of SMEs, i.e. the often sequential, non-linear and iterative steps taken to improve the business by making changes to specific BM components.

The purpose of this single case study is to examine secondary-certificate-seeking preservice teachers' (PST) perceptions of their teaching practice.

This single case study used student responses to a two-part reflection assignment to examine what it revealed about PST self-efficacy.

The findings revealed: (1) PSTs were generally more confident when reflecting in a second reflection assignment, (2) there were points of tension between confidence and unease, (3) there were instances of PSTs with mixed confidence and (4) some PSTs crafted plans for their future teaching. The authors further discuss these findings by exploring how PSTs reflected on their teaching experiences, and the authors reflected on the role of teacher educators in modeling this reflective practice for PSTs.

This study has important implications for teacher preparation programs and teacher educators, particularly those who work with PSTs in clinical experiences.

The study introduces a new approach to leverage-value relationship. Besides applying the classical regression models, the study deals with leverage as a continuous treatment variable implemented on the firm’s value using the dose-response function (DFR).

After proper model calibration and splitting the treatment (leverage) into ten doses, a response function is generated, which enables the realization of the dose level at which the firm’s value is maximized. Furthermore, the study tests the pecking order theory (POT) and the trade-off theory (TOT) using the threshold model to see whether firms are under or over-indebted. The analysis is carried out on panel data from small-medium enterprises (SMEs), providing more valuable insights than large and mature companies.

The study used two leverage measures: total liabilities ratio and bank debt ratio. Value is measured by the market capitalization and Tobin’s Q. In general, the study finds a positive relationship between leverage and value; POT is not strongly supported, firms are below their optimal leverage and there is a certain leverage dose that would maximize firms’ value.

Since the threshold model and DRF show that SMEs are under-indebted, firms could benefit from extra leverage doses without affecting the firm’s risk profile, especially in a low-interest rate regime, and the potential increase in public-private expenditure after Italy obtained the European Recovery Funds.

The study contributes to new knowledge and understanding of financial leverage from new methodological perspectives, offering valuable insights from SMEs using novel approaches.